06x04 - A Legacy Revealed

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island.

RICK: We know we have a target
in the Money Pit.

CRAIG: Fingers crossed
we hit the vault.

RICK: All it would take
is one little,

obscure piece of paper
to make it all worth it.

-Here it is.
-DAVIN: Oh.

RICK: We're on something
really, really hard.

Could this be the "aha" moment?

-MARTY: We have another sample
for you.
-Let's have a look at it.

MARTY: We need to run
composition analysis on it.

-Okay.
-MARTY: Wow.

GABRIEL:
It appears to be Roman.

-Wow.
-No way.

Roman, baby.

NARRATOR: There is an island
in the North Atlantic...

where people have been looking
for an incredible treasure

for more than 200 years.

So far, they have found
a stone slab

with strange symbols carved
into it...

mysterious fragments
of human bone...

and a lead cross whose origin
may stretch back

to the days
of the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have d*ed
trying to solve the mystery.

And, according to legend,

one more will have to die,

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

It is the end of another
long day on Oak Island...

-ALL: Hey, Marty.
-Hey, guys.

NARRATOR: ...as Rick Lagina,
Craig Tester

and members of their team

gather to inform Rick's brother
Marty

and area archeologist
Laird Niven about a new

and potentially important
discovery.

Okay. So, uh, we all would like

to bring everyone up to speed,
including Marty,

about the recent finds
that-that Gary made.

I did send you some pictures,
I believe.

Yeah, got 'em right here.

RICK: Which, I think
we all find quite remarkable.

I'd love to hear about it.

-RICK: Gary?
-GARY: Yeah.

Uh, Mike West decides
to run his equipment

along the top of the beach.

Right.

And we started getting targets
straight away.

And what we found
just blew us away.

And we'll see what you think,
Laird.

Huh.

MARTY:
Wow.

I mean, is this what
I think it is?

Yeah. I mean, it's well-made,
isn't it?

-Yeah.
-LAIRD: It's handmade.

It looks like a crossbow bolt,
does it not?

-That's exactly what I said.
-Yeah.

GARY: Unbelievable!
Look at this.

What is it?

NARRATOR:
Earlier this same day,

while metal detecting at
the beachfront on Lot 26,

Jack Begley, Gary Drayton

and geophysicist
Mike West discovered

an unusual metal object

approximately ten inches
beneath the rocky soil.

I mean, this is old.

We're talking, like,
Templar old.

NARRATOR:
Used as a deadly w*apon

as early as
the seventh century BC,

the crossbow was, for its time,

a type of "high-tech bow
and arrow,"

one that could sh**t
projectiles with great speed

and deadly accuracy.

The arrows, or bolts,
were so finely sharpened

they could even penetrate
metal armor.

Aren't most crossbow bolts
wood-shafted, though?

They come in different
varieties.

I mean, this looks like this was
made for piercing chainmail.

LAIRD: Finely made.
Like, really finely made.

Yeah, and it not rusting
over all these years,

you know, minimal,
especially on the tip,

-where it was worked the most.
-MARTY: Yeah. Yeah, the tip.

CRAIG:
Yeah. Nice, hardened iron,

-which makes me think it's old.
-LAIRD: Yep.

I mean, the quality
of iron back then,

it just doesn't rust very fast.

RICK: You-you've always said
that, right, Gary?

Yeah. The older the iron,
the better condition it's in.

And this could be potentially,
like, an unbelievable find.

NARRATOR:
A medieval crossbow bolt?

Found on the shore
of Oak Island?

But if so, how did it get here?

Could it be connected in some
way to the lead cross found

at Smith's Cove last year?

It's clearly very interesting,
what they've found,

this so-called crossbow bolt.

Very interesting,
uh, very out of place.

I mean,
it's an interesting object.

There's no question about it.

Unlike anything
we've ever found before.

MARTY: Actually, Gary, if that
bolt is really, really old,

it's probably more significant
than the cross

because the cross

is a artifact,
a religious artifact.

It's possible to conjecture

that it was dropped many years
after it was formed.

You know, somebody could be
carrying it.

But here's the thing:

You don't generally carry
crossbow bolts around, you know,

-for a hundred years
and then drop it.
-Yep.

So if it really is old,
honestly, Rick,

I'd say it's more significant
than the cross.

RICK: Yeah.
Well, look, guys,

I think two things come to mind.

Obviously, additional testing.

And the other thing is,

I think we need to buy Gary
a new shirt

with a larger, deeper pocket.

-Yeah.
-RICK: I think these finds

are very intriguing--
and Laird, you'll help us?

-You'll assist?
-Yeah, absolutely.

RICK: There's more things
to be learned.

And to that extent, uh,
the work continues.

-Sempre avanti. Keep going.
-RICK: Sempre avanti.

-All right.
-See ya, Marty.

-Okay, guys.
-See ya, Marty.
-See ya.

CRAIG:
Bye.

-Ready?
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
The next day, Rick Lagina,

Craig Tester
and Charles Barkhouse

head over to the area known
as the Money Pit.

They are in the early stages
of finding out

if recently conducted
seismic testing

has allowed them to pinpoint
the precise location

of the original treasure site,
first discovered in 1795.

What depth are we at?

Down to 129.

NARRATOR:
Just one day ago,

the team from Choice Drilling
began a new

six-and-a-half-inch-wide
borehole, known as DE-6.

There's your wood.

Bring it on over.

NARRATOR: At a depth of 93 feet,
they discovered evidence

of a horizontal wooden beam,
followed by a three-foot void.

-TERRY: I love it.
-CRAIG: It was laying this way.

-Yeah.
-Not standing up,
it was laying like this.

So, it could be the top
of a... a tunnel.

NARRATOR:
It was at this same depth

that recent seismic scanning
of the area revealed

what could be a network
of underground tunnels.

That carries on into what looks
like a larger network

around the 100
to 110 foot-ish range.

-Flood tunnel?
-Could be.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
Rick, Marty and their partners

have actually located one of

the legendary booby-trapped
flood tunnels?

The tunnels which,
many believe,

were constructed
in order to prevent searchers

from finding the centuries-old
treasure vault?

What are you calling the depth?

-164.
-You getting anything?

-It's really soft.
-CRAIG: Right.

Can you drill another, whatever,

-until you hit something hard?
-Sure.

Okay.

NARRATOR:
Although the team is encouraged

by locating a possible tunnel,

they're even more hopeful

to reach another one
of the intriguing anomalies

that was detected
by seismic scanning:

a nearly 30-foot-wide void

at a depth
of approximately 170 feet.

It was at this depth,
last year, that the team--

while drilling with
a 60-inch-wide steel caisson--

encountered what they believed

could be the legendary
Chappell Vault,

a seven-foot tall wooden box

first discovered by treasure
hunters William Chappell

and Frederick Blair in 1897.

However, instead of penetrating
the vault,

the caisson is believed
to have actually pushed

the mysterious object
further down into the mud

and off to the side.

When we were doing
the big can on H-8,

we had a-a plug where
the bottom of the hole

kept on being pushed
to the side.

So what was being pushed
to the side?

Drilling this well
might indicate

what was pushed aside from H-8.

So we are looking for any kind
of evidence in that area.

Fingers crossed we hit
the vault

or a debris field from
the treasure itself falling.

So it's an excellent place
to be.

CRAIG:
Well, I hope we have something.

RICK:
I hope so.

BRENNAN: What would that
something be you'd like?

CRAIG:
I'd settle for silver.

I don't need gold right now.

-One step at a time, right?
-Yeah. Yeah.

I'd love to have wood
right here.

RICK: We're on something
really, really hard.

Wow.

-RICK: Wow.
-(metal creaking)

We're on something really,
really hard.

NARRATOR:
While drilling DE-6,

a new borehole
in the Money Pit area,

the Oak Island team has just
struck an object

at a depth of some
200 feet deep underground,

an object that seems
impossible to penetrate.

RICK:
What's your guess?

It looks like we tagged
something hard, which we assumed

to be interface,
bedrock of some sort.

Serious problem for you?

I think he just should stop.

We hit something around
the 204, 205 range, so...

TERRY: It was a little bit
out of target zone.

-We have the bedrock plateau
here.
-BRENNAN: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Despite the fact
that the team

had previously recovered
promising evidence

from this same borehole,

leading them to believe
they might have located

the original Money Pit shaft,

hitting bedrock offers
a disappointing development.

It means they may have missed

the large underground anomaly

that was indicated
on the 3D map created

by the team's recent
seismic scanning.

It also means
they will be forced

to choose a different site
in the hopes

of locating
the legendary Chappell Vault.

We certainly didn't hit
the center of the anomaly, and,

you know,
that's good and bad news, but

as long as the drill
is down hole, there's hope.

There's a chance
you might encounter something.

You know, as usual, with all
the things we've done to date

on Oak Island, there's things
to be learned, a few more

questions,
a few disappointments.

Well, you know, the tunnel to me
is very interesting,

and either... if it's
an original, it's fantastic.

If it's a searcher, it helps us
define where the Money Pit is.

And, uh, we need to get back and
look at all the different maps,

interpretations
of where those tunnels were.

Right.

Definite disappointment.

You know, we were hoping
to find, you know,

a cavern at this area
and we didn't.

It's just part of the process.

We tested one target, and now
we move onto the next target.

Well, tomorrow's another day.

-Yeah.
-Absolutely.
-We'll see you gentlemen then.

-Take care, guys.
-Thanks.

-Take care.
-Talk to you tomorrow.

NARRATOR: The next day, as Rick
Lagina remains on the island

to begin planning
the team's next steps...

MARTY:
All data's good data,

and we're about to get some.

NARRATOR:
...his brother, Marty,

Craig Tester
and Marty's son Alex

head some 50 miles northeast
of Oak Island

to St. Mary's University
in the city of Halifax.

MARTY:
Dr. Brosseau, we're back.

-Welcome back.
-We keep finding things.
(laughs)

That's good.

NARRATOR:
They are meeting once again

with Associate Professor
of Chemistry

Dr. Christa Brosseau, an expert
in the study of metals

and their chemical
compositions.

-So, you've got some...
-MARTY: We have another sample

for you, yes, we do indeed.

So, I guess we get right to it,
right?

-Yeah, let's have a look at it.
-All right.

NARRATOR:
They are hoping to find out

if scientific testing
on what they believe

to be a crossbow bolt
might help determine its age.

Well, it looks like iron.
(laughs)

-Yes.
-Yeah.

-We're quite sure of that.
-Yeah.

MARTY:
So, the conjecture was

that it might be
a crossbow bolt.

-Okay.
-Okay, which we were all
excited about.

It was designed to pierce armor.

-Mm-hmm.
-So,

we're here
to see what you think.

-Yup.
-Obviously,

we're intrigued with it.

We're trying to make sense out
of that.

Right.
So, for-for iron, there's...

The elemental analysis is
the main test

-that we would be doing.
-Right, the SEM.

-Okay.
-MARTY: All right, let's see

-what the SEM says.
-Let's do it.

Okay.

NARRATOR: Using samples
carefully collected

from the surface
of the artifact...

-All right, those samples are
ready. Let's go.
-CRAIG: Okay.

NARRATOR: ...Dr. Brosseau and
her colleague Dr. Xiang Yang

will now perform a chemical
analysis of the metal

with the help
of a high-powered

Scanning Electron Microscope
or SEM.

Okay, Dr. Brosseau,
I always love this part.

-This is the fun part.
-Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Unlike traditional microscopes,

which rely on a combination
of light and lenses

to magnify objects,
the SEM performs scans

with a focused beam
of electrons,

which can produce magnification

as much
as 200,000 times greater

than an object's actual size.

It can also provide
a detailed analysis

of the item's
chemical composition.

Okay, so, it's ready.

MARTY:
Yes.

BROSSEAU: Once we start looking
at the sample,

you'll see the image
of the object and the surface.

ALEX:
That's amazing, isn't it?

-Yeah.
-Wow.

BROSSEAU: So, you guys look
for shiny bits on a large scale,

and we look
on a very small scale.

-On a small scale.
-(laughter)

Okay, so we're going
to do the, uh, chemistry.

CRAIG: So, right now,
you're looking at a big enough

piece that
it should see any impurities.

Yeah.

BROSSEAU: All right,
let's see what it's made of.

Iron popped up.

Right.

But you've got some manganese.

-There is manganese in there?
-Yes. Yes.
-Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Manganese?

Because manganese became used

in the production
of steel and iron

beginning
in the ninth century BC,

its presence in the sample
could be an indication

that the Oak Island team
may be in possession

of something far older

than what they first
thought possible.

-All right, excellent analysis.
-Mm-hmm.

We'll get ahold
of the weapons guy.

-For sure.
-Thank you very much.
You know...

-You're welcome.
-You're welcome.

...the hard, scientific data
is so welcome

because almost nothing we do
is like that.

-Mm-hmm.
-Anyway, thank you.
Appreciate it.

-CRAIG: Thank you.
-Yeah, nice to see you.
-MARTY: I'm sure we'll be back.

-I'm sure we will be back.
-Yeah, nice to see you guys.

Xiang, nice to see you again.

BROSSEAU:
Good luck with your search.

-ALEX: Thank you.
-MARTY: Yup.

NARRATOR: Following
his informative trip

to St. Mary's University,

Craig Tester has arrived back
on Oak Island to Smith's Cove,

where one of the team's
most ambitious

and expensive projects
is well underway--

the construction of a massive,
525-foot-long steel cofferdam.

-Gentlemen!
-MICHEL: Good morning, Craig.
How are you?

-SCOTT: Hello, Craig!
-Good. Good to see you.

-Yeah, same to you.
-Hello, sir.

It looks like
it's moving right along.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Yeah. It's going good, yup.

Yeah. So, how many
have you put in so far?

SCOTT: That'll be the ninth
sheet right there, yeah.

Timing wise,
you're ahead of time or...?

I think we're pretty much
on schedule.

Yeah, I think we are, right?
Yeah.

-On schedule, yeah.
-Yup. Should be.
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
Since construction

of the cofferdam began
just one week ago,

the team
from Irving Equipment Limited

has installed nine
out of the nearly

120 sections
of steel sheet piling

that will form
the watertight barrier.

Once completed, it will allow
the site to be fully drained

so that it can be excavated,
not only in the hope of finding

historically-significant
artifacts, but also

the remains of the legendary
box-drain flooding system

that has effectively
booby-trapped

the entire Money Pit area.

CRAIG: Irving is driving pilings
into the ground.

Basically, they're going
to vibrate them into the ground

and get us a nice, watertight
area to do our exploration in.

So that's about 20 feet
you pounded down?

SCOTT: They're in the ground to
the rock. It's, like, 26 feet.

-CRAIG: Okay.
-Yeah.

Any problems pounding 'em in?

-No, they're going good,
actually.
-Yeah.

SCOTT:
Got to work with the tide, too.

Well, that sounds good.
You need anything from us?

No, I think
we're good right now.

-I think we're good for a bit.
-Yeah.
-Yup.

NARRATOR:
While Craig continues

to oversee the cofferdam's
construction at Smith's Cove,

Rick Lagina has called members
of the Oak Island team together

for an important meeting
in the w*r room.

You know, I know
everyone's not here right now,

but, um, I just...

I do want to let everyone know.

Uh, it's with a lot of sadness,

for me especially,
that Zena has passed.

Oh.

NARRATOR: The news that Rick's
close friend, Zena Halpern,

has passed away at the age of
88 comes with great sadness

for him
and the rest of the team.

-Oh, my goodness.
-Hi, Zena.

How wonderful to meet you.

Wonderful to meet you.

NARRATOR: The New York-based
author and historian

spent more than 50 years
researching possible journeys

to North America by members
of the Knights Templar.

Journeys that she was convinced
were made centuries before

the so-called "discovery"
of the new world

by Christopher Columbus
in 1492.

Two years ago,
Zena presented Rick Lagina

and the team with a number
of intriguing documents,

including one
which she believed

to be a 14th-century
Templar map of Oak Island.

Zena had
very serious health issues, and

her health was failing,
to be honest.

As sad as we are
by Zena's passing,

I am immensely grateful
for having met her.

I can't speak highly enough
about her.

Her life has certainly impacted
my own.

She brought a lot to... not only

from a research perspective,
but on a personal level.

I found her
to be an incredible woman. Um...

Rich Moats actually wrote
something that I think is

very apt and-and very eloquent.

-Well, didn't he work with her?
-He did work with her,

and I would like to...
to read it.

"My heart is heavy at the loss
of our dear friend, Zena.

"She was a sweet but tough woman
in love with history.

"I am comforted in believing
she now has all the answers

"to all the questions she ever
had about history as she listens

"to her creator.

"She now knows the full history
of Oak Island

"and what lies
below the beautiful surface.

(voice breaking): "I am thankful
to have known her.

"I love you, Zena.

Rest, my dear friend."

She was a lovely woman.

Rick was visibly moved

by the news
of Zena Halpern's passing.

He had established
quite a bond with this woman.

They must have been
kindred spirits somehow.

My heart goes out to him
so much.

Well, Rick, you know, I know
you had a very soft spot

in your heart for her.
Everybody understands that.

Her work was unfinished,

but she was in a business
where her work would...

-be unfinished.
-Never be finished. Right.

And-and it's kind of a...
probably a happy thing.

RICK:
She's been on

that uncovering history road
for her entire life.

And now the torch
has been passed

to us, at least
in the Oak Island world.

MARTY:
Yes.

We, the living, carry on.

-DAVE: That's right.
-MARTY: Yes.

NARRATOR: Three days
after learning the news

of his friend's passing,

Rick Lagina, along with
his nephew Peter Fornetti,

travels some 800 miles
southwest of Oak Island

to visit Zena's former home

in Long Island, New York.

RICK:
Zena has bequeathed to me

the contents of her research--
a lifetime's worth of research.

And I'm quite humbled
by the fact

that she feels that,
in our hands,

her research will not falter.

We will continue
to move it forward.

Have you seen everything
that we're gonna see today?

Absolutely not.
And that's why, you know,

this is gonna prove
to be highly informative.

I mean, Zena...
I have nothing but respect

for what she accomplished
over her...

the entirety of her career,

but also as it relates
to our search.

It's gonna be a bit emotional
for me. I will say that.

-Let's go take a look.
-Let's take a look.

For me, this is gonna be
a little tough.

Are you ready?

There we go.

-Jason, I presume?
-Hi, there.

-Yep. Rick, right?
-Yes, absolutely.

-Nice to meet you.
-Peter.
-Hi, Rick.

-Nice to meet you.
-Good to see you, brother.

-My condolences.
-Thank you, bud. Thank you.

-And to you, Jason.
-Thank you.

-Condolences. Peter.
-Hi, buddy. Good to see you.

Thank you. Come on in.

-RICK: So far everything
looks quite familiar.
-So...

RICK: It was amazing, you know,
to walk through here

the first time I was here.

The width and breadth

of not only the passion she
brought to the research agenda,

but the commitment.

I got a little overwhelmed
at how much...

you know, knowledge there was

-in her head.
-Yeah, there's a lifetime
of commitment here.

The hope is that there might be
some information here

that we may be able to glean
which will further

her research

and her belief
in terms of what happened

-on Oak Island.
-PETER: I think
that's everyone's hope.

It's everyone's hope.

Right.

Where Zena's trail leads?
I don't know.

Uh, where her research leads?
I don't know.

But she wouldn't give up.
She was indomitable.

So neither will we.

So, everything here
on the floor,

we went through. We made sure
this is all absolute research.

Uh, you can see
a lot of the books

with all of the-the Post-its

and the notes.

You don't see those kinds
of notes in my books.

-Do you, Peter?
-No.

(laughs) And, uh, then
there's still the closet

-behind you.
-JASON: Yeah.
-RICK: Oh, yeah.

-So, uh...
-PETER: I think
our next step here

is to start looking
through things

and start boxing up.

That would be...
that would be, uh, the project.

Yeah. (chuckles)

RICK:
Zena's passion

was this work.
These rooms represent her life,

and there's a lot
of information to be gleaned,

some of it highly relevant
to the search

here on Oak Island.

My hope is that as we
unravel it, it will lead us

to new discoveries,
new understandings

of perhaps a Templar voyage
to the New World,

perhaps including Oak Island.

Uh, here's something here.

This may be...

-Well, this might be the book.
-Oh.

There's a page in here.

Right here.

-DAVIN: Oh!
-Bingo.

-DAVIN: Yeah, you see
where the page is?
-RICK: Right here.

-A page. Here, right here.
-DAVIN: Oh!

There you go.

Bingo.

NARRATOR: At the home
of late Oak Island researcher

Zena Halpern
in Long Island, New York,

Rick Lagina,
his nephew Peter Fornetti

and Zena's son Davin,

are pouring through
more than 50 years of research

collected by the noted author

during her lifetime--
research which Rick hopes

may help him and his partners

solve the Oak Island mystery.

-RICK: What's been called
Zena's map.
-(Davin chuckles)

And this is the formula cipher.

They went to some trouble.

Mm-hmm.

RICK: We still
have to puzzle this out.

The true meaning of the cipher,
the true meaning of the map.

I want to make sure that these
get safely back to Oak Island,

so we'll give these to Peter

and, uh, make sure
he boxes these up.

-Peter.
-PETER: Yep.

RICK: These may
or may not hold secrets,

but there is certainly
something intriguing about them.

So we need to pack these up,
make sure they're safe.

Okay.
I'll pack these up separate.

RICK:
Perfect. Thanks.

So much information.

I mean, I-I think we discussed

about whether or not there are
original documents here.

Like-like that,
for instance, right there.

That's... There's Templars
on the cover of that.

I know what this is.

I don't know
if it's in its entirety,

but this is the Ralph de Sudeley
deposition of his trip

to the New World.

This is the Cremona Document
itself.

This is at the core

of your mother's research.

NARRATOR:
The Cremona Document?

Discovered during the 1970s
in a church in Cremona, Italy,

the so-called Cremona Document

is a collection of maps,
ciphers and journal entries

which are believed
to have been authored,

in part, by the 12th-century
Templar knight

Ralph de Sudeley.

It describes his activity
at the Temple Mount

in Jerusalem,
where he is believed

to have discovered
priceless religious artifacts

such as the Holy Grail
and the Ark of the Covenant.

It also details a voyage

that he made to North America

with other members
of the Knights Templar.

Although many mainstream
historians remain skeptical

as to the Cremona Document's
authenticity,

Rick Lagina is convinced

that much of the information
contained within it

is most likely true.

RICK:
That document led Zena

to connections to Oak Island,

and that needs to be
followed up on.

But as of yet, we don't have
a complete understanding.

Look, I can't tell you

what you already know.

She was a wonderful lady,

and hopefully her passion
and her interest and her life

is still here
within these volumes.

I hope we can do this justice.

I hope we can follow the trail

-she's led us on.
-Absolutely.

And I-I would like to just
thank you for acknowledging her.

And I'm just so thrilled to know

that her life's work
isn't just gonna stop right now.

I guarantee you
it's not gonna stop, Davin.

Jason, it's not gonna stop.
She wouldn't allow it

to stop and we won't, either.

-Thank you, bud.
-Yep.

Take care.

NARRATOR:
The next day,

following his emotional trip

to collect materials
left to him by Zena Halpern...

-Morning, guys.
-Morning.
-Gentlemen.

NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina
joins Craig Tester

and other members
of the Oak Island team

at the Money Pit site.

Now that drilling has begun
at a second location,

they are hopeful
they will soon reach

a mysterious 30-foot-wide void

located at a depth
of some 170 feet

and which was identified
earlier by seismic scanning.

In picking this location, H-7.5,

it is close in proximity
to H-8, where we don't have

an understanding
of what happened.

We certainly retrieved

some very interesting items
from H-8.

The hope is that
we can replicate those finds,

maybe find something
in addition to those.

TERRY:
The much talked about H-7.5.

I pulled out H-8 from last year.

Very, you know, interesting
and important hole that spawned

-the large diameter caisson.
-Yeah.

And today we're very close
with that one.

We're into open ground

that hasn't had
any real information on it,

you know, plus or minus
five feet away from it.

We've got a really
relatively virgin target

very close to what I think
is the Money Pit.

This should be interesting.

You know, considering
what came out of H-8,

this should be a real hot zone
for artifacts.

So, where are we, guys?

CRAIG:
Uh, 159.

We ran the casing down to 158

to seal it... seal it off.

I wanted to make sure
we didn't have

any more slumping from above.

So anything that slumps now
will be at the bottom.

But it's been advancing
quite well.

If we can really keep open hole
till 210, it'd be interesting

where this ends up.

We'll find out.

NARRATOR:
Using a specialized sonic rig,

the Choice Drilling team

will extract core samples
of earth--

and any objects
contained within--

at intervals every ten feet.

These samples
will then be transferred

into a plastic sleeve

so that they can be
carefully examined by hand

for any important clues
or possible treasure.

CHARLES:
Oh, here we go.

-What depth, Brennan?
-160.

TERRY: That's really gravelly,
but it's mostly limestone.

See that tan color?
That's limestone.

And there's silt, there's, uh,

you know, organics in there.

CRAIG:
What is that?

TERRY:
That's weird.

I think this is coconut fiber.

CRAIG:
I think this is coconut fiber.

TERRY:
That's really interesting.

NARRATOR: At the Money Pit,
while searching

the spoils of the exploratory
borehole known as H-7.5,

Rick Lagina, Craig Tester

and members
of the Oak Island team

have just made
an amazing discovery.

When you look
at the historical records,

they did find, you know,
what they believed to be

coconut fiber in the Money Pit
when they were excavating it,

so it's not beyond the realm
of possibility.

Exactly. Exactly.

NARRATOR
Coconut fiber?

In the Money Pit?

160 feet deep
below the surface?

But if so,
how did it get there,

and why?

In 1804, when the Money Pit
was excavated

by the Onslow Company,
searchers reported finding

a large amount of coconut fiber
at a depth of 60 feet.

Given that
the nearest coconut trees

are located some 1,500 miles
south of Nova Scotia,

they concluded that it had been
used to make a kind of rope

that would enable depositors to
lower something of great value

down into the shaft.

Could the discovery
of coconut fiber

be an important indication
that Rick, Marty and the team

have finally located the site
of the original Money Pit?

RICK:
You know, coconut fiber

has been found at depth
in the Money Pit.

If this indeed is coconut fiber,

it makes this location
much more relevant

in terms
of further search agenda.

Whether that means a large can

or additional drilling,
I don't know.

Certainly a very unique find.

It's certainly worth testing.

TERRY:
That wood's been cut.

Look, you can see that a*.

See that?

-Yeah.
-Somebody's hit these things

with an a*-- you can see
the bevel of the a*.

-This is interesting.
-What are we at again

at the top here? One...?

-CHARLES: 171.
-171.

NARRATOR:
a*-cut wood?

Found approximately
170 feet deep underground,

and nearly the same depth
where recent seismic scanning

revealed a mysterious
30-foot-wide chamber?

Could the Oak Island team have
just discovered solid evidence

of the legendary
Chappell Vault?

CRAIG:
We are going to want

to bag and tag these pieces
of wood in through here.

TERRY: That is quite a bit
of limestone-rich material.

Matrix. There's also
very large, rounded clasts.

We've never seen
anything like that.

And this minced-up stuff here,

that's... really interesting.

RICK: It's as though
this collected somehow,

in, like, in the corner

of something or in the crevice
of something, you know?

-CRAIG: Right.
-Otherwise this would be mixed.

RICK:
You know, I wish

I could make
a very firm statement

whenever we drill that,
okay, we're in this structure

or we're in this shaft,
or we're in this wall,

but we don't know
the underground.

That has been proven to us
over and over and over again.

At this point,
we have a lot of data

and coring samples
that we've brought up.

And from that,
maybe then get an understanding

of how these
wood structures align.

That's my hope.

But how we pursue it,
I don't know as of yet.

You have to have faith
that what you're doing is right.

I mean, like
all the searchers before,

I mean, it was always
the next day, the next hole,

the next ten feet of the shaft.

If you don't believe that,
then it's time to go home.

When it gets tough, I go back
to Bobby Restall's journal.

"We made two inches today."

-Yeah.
-And they were happy.

-Yeah.
-Yeah, we came up dry,

but we tried,
and we didn't quit,

-and neither did they.
-Nope.

NARRATOR: After a day
of exciting new discoveries

at the Oak Island Money Pit,

brothers Rick and Marty Lagina

gather with the rest
of the team in the w*r room

where they eagerly await
a report

on one of their
most exciting recent finds.

So, guys, what I'm hoping
we'll learn today

is a significant discovery,

an item that we named...

very preliminarily,
a crossbow bolt.

And so I had asked Doug
to reach out

to an antiquities expert and get
an evaluation of the object.

And I think, I hope,
that we're in

for a very interesting
revelation.

So, Doug, where are we?

Well, we reached out to Gabriel
Vandervort in California,

an antiquities expert,
and I think we

should hear from him
what he has to say.

-MARTY: Hello. Hi, Gabriel.
-Hi.

-Hi, Gabriel.
-How you doing?

-Good. How are you?
-Good.

I'm well. Thank you.

Lots of interesting stuff
behind you there,

-that's for sure.
-Uh, yeah.

I'm a specialist here.
I deal in everything

from ancient Mesopotamia

through the medieval
and Crusades period.

-Perfect.
-RICK: So, Doug
has reached out to you.

I guess we're very much looking
forward to your analysis.

Yes. I, uh,
I've taken a look at this piece.

It is extremely interesting.

I spent quite a bit of time
on it, actually.

When I first saw it...

my first instinct was that it
was from the medieval period,

from Europe.

-That's what he said.
-RICK: Gary.

-Yeah, that's his first...
-GABRIEL: The, uh, tip,

the pure metal tip was...

part of a lot
of medieval weaponry,

like crossbow bolts, but not
with such a long neck like that.

So I went through
just dozens of references,

really couldn't find it,

couldn't nail it down
to the medieval period.

So I started going back in time.

-And, uh...
-Back in time?

what it appears to be...

...is Roman.

-No way!
-ALEX: No way!

This type
of Roman w*apon was used

from the Roman Republican
period, first century BC,

up through
the fifth century AD.

That is unbelievable.

Two words: Roman, baby!

(laughter)

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

What it appears to be
is the type of Roman javelin

called a pilum.

NARRATOR:
A Roman pilum?

Dating back as far
as the first century BC,

more than 2,000 years ago?

Commonly carried by the
legionnaires of ancient Rome,

a pilum was a type
of throwing spear,

also known as a javelin.

Although the shaft
was made of wood,

the tip was made
of a very hard iron,

which could pierce
through body armor.

It also featured
a long, thin neck,

designed to break off
inside the body of its victim,

causing a fatal wound.

GABRIEL:
I found a reference to it,

if I could show you. Um...

We're looking at that
right there.

And you've got
about the top third

of that w*apon right there.

It was a sophisticated w*apon
in the Roman period,

but it really wasn't something

that was used after that.
It's well-made.

It's well-preserved.

These are rare
to be found like this.

Yeah, even rarer
in North America.

MARTY:
Everybody's jaw

in the room dropped
when Gabriel,

the antiquities expert,
said that his best guess

is that it was

what's called a Roman pilum.

Roman! Okay? Roman.

That's, you know,
pushing back...

(chuckles)
...a long ways.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

It's so outside the box
of our current belief.

I mean, the idea that

we still don't know what had
transpired here on the island,

I mean, it's incredible.

GABRIEL: There's no reason
I could imagine that

something like this would
have been found on Oak Island.

-Nor can we.
-Yeah, neither can we.

GABRIEL: You know, unless it
was brought over as part of...

some kind of a cache of weapons,

or-or-or...
you know, antiquities,

even at the time,
at a much later time.

What does that make you feel
about Oak Island?

(chuckling)

Very intrigued.

Very, very intrigued.

Welcome to our world.

MARTY: We're all just sitting
here with our mouths open.

So we got to digest this
a little bit.

-Absolutely.
-Yeah.

Appreciate your time.
Thank you very much.

GABRIEL:
You're welcome. Take care.

Gentlemen, I think it's time
to take a deep breath

and think about all this.

And we also all have
a lot to do, so...

let's go.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: For Rick, Marty
and the Oak Island team,

it has been a week
of emotional highs...

and heartbreaking lows.

A week that underscored

the need for both patience

and perseverance.

♪ ♪

It also served
as a solemn reminder

that life is short...

...and the time to solve
the Oak Island mystery...

...is now.

♪ ♪

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

RICK: Maybe today
we'll find the one thing.

I think we're right on target
for that tunnel.

TERRY:
Keep your eyes peeled, guys.

-GARY: Sweet!
-JACK: What is that?

We found a copy
of the Cremona Document.

RICK:
That document will lead us

to a Templar voyage
to the New World,

including Oak Island.

MARTY: We have the first
evidence the French were here.

-TERRY: Whoa!
-CHARLES: What do you got?

CRAIG: I think you hit
the tunnel from Shaft Six.